U.S., Philippines Conduct Joint Patrols In South China Sea

Camila Domonoske
NPR
Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the patrols and increased military support are intended to "tamp down tensions."

What a Semi-Naked Woman Posing by a Lake Says About China’s Relationship With Tibet

Hannah Beech
Time
While professing reverence for Tibetan culture, Beijing is also swift to crack down on Tibetan freedom.

China Summons G7 Diplomats to Protest S. China Sea Statement

Associated Press
China said the G-7 countries should have focused on global economy instead of "hyping up maritime issues and fueling tensions in the region."

China Will Retry Taiwanese Nationals Who Were Acquitted of Any Crime in Kenya

Lily Kuo
Quartz
China is showing its dominance of Taiwan in Africa just as Taiwan’s new president prepares to take office.

China Let 13 North Koreans Defect through Its Border Because They Had "Legitimate" ID

Steve Mollman
Quartz
The public announcement was a stark departure from its typical response to DPRK defectors.

China’s Top Lawyer in Hong Kong Says Secession Advocates Could Face Prosecution

Keith Bradsher
New York Times
British colonial legislation could be used to prosecute "separatists", but the Chinese govenment can't detain suspects in HK.

Conversation

04.12.16

Should Internet Censorship Be Considered a Trade Issue?

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Susan Shirk & more
A new report from the Office of the United States Trade Representative lists, for the first time, Chinese Internet censorship as a trade barrier. The possible implications are complex: it could strengthen the hand of U.S. businesses, but also stands...

China 'Seizes' Eight Taiwanese from Kenya

BBC
The incident comes as cross-strait relations are feared to be entering a rocky period.

U.S. Adds China’s Internet Controls to List of Trade Barriers

Paul Mozur
New York Times
The limits have posed a significant burden to foreign suppliers, hurting both Internet sites and users who depend on them for business.”

China Asking for Terror Suspects List Ahead of G20 Summit

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
China urged participating countries to provide lists of possible terrorists who might target the meeting to be held in Hangzhou.

China Steps up Panama Papers Censorship after Leaders' Relatives Named

Tom Phillips
Guardian
It's dangerous for higher leaders regarding internal party credibility as much as the broader public.

China to Donald Trump: You’re Hired!

Melinda Liu
Newsweek
Trump appeals to many Chinese youth who are spending more, traveling more, and thinking more independently than their parents ever dreamed of doing.

China Tightens the Trade Screws on North Korea

Associated Press
China has banned most imports of North Korean coal and iron ore, the country's main exports.

Conversation

04.06.16

China in the Panama Papers

Andrew J. Nathan, Bill Bishop & more
The overseas wealth of several relatives of senior Chinese leaders has come to light in an International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) report, part of the analysis by a group of media outlets of more than 11 million documents leaked...

Viewpoint

04.06.16

Will China Ever Have Its Own Cinematic Superhero?

Anthony Kao
As Batman v Superman attempts to barnstorm cinema box offices worldwide, including in China—now the world’s No. 2 movie marketplace—I’ve been watching a different kind of hero movie: Jian Bing Man.This 2015 Chinese blockbuster isn’t exactly a...

Donald Trump, Despite Bashing Beijing, Is Not Without Fans in China

Cao Li
New York Times
Founder of the online “Trump Fan Club” sang his praises: “A political outsider is taking the country by storm, with unflinching courage.”

China Restricts North Korea Trade over Nuclear Tests

BBC
China is announcing bans on gold and some coal imports and jet fuel exports, in line with UN sanctions.

Media

04.05.16

Chinese Censors Rush to Make ‘Panama Papers’ Disappear

David Wertime
On April 3, the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit International Committee of Investigative Journalists dropped what struck many as a bombshell: news that a leaked trove of 11.5 million previously secret files from Panama-based law firm Mossack...

Vietnam Seizes Chinese Vessel in South China Sea

Oliver Holmes
Guardian
Captain and two sailors detained amid escalation in territorial dispute between Hanoi and Beijing.

Crackdown in China: Worse and Worse

Orville Schell from New York Review of Books
“As a liberal, I no longer feel I have a future in China,” a prominent Chinese think tank head in the process of moving abroad recently lamented in private. Such refrains are all too familiar these days as educated Chinese professionals express...

China's Churning out Hip-Hop Propaganda Videos to Win over Young People

Siyi Chen
Quartz
It’s still questionable, however, how much of their political message actually gets through.

North Korea Sanctions: Is China Enforcing Them?

Matt Rivers
CNN
The Chinese say inspections are effective, but CNN couldn't independently verify that.

Campaign Season’s Anti-China Tone Is Likely to Cloud Meeting With Obama

Mark Landler
New York Times
While tarring China is a predictable election-year tactic, there were deeper corrosive forces at play this year.

Why Some Chinese Like Donald Trump

Qian Chen
CNBC
There's a range of reasons, from his history as a reality-television star to admiring his daughter's appearance.

Obama Seeing China Leader as South China Sea Tensions Rise

Matthew Pennington
Associated Press
World leaders, including those from China, Japan and South Korea, will be in town for a summit hosted by Obama on nuclear security.

With Hong Kong Booksellers Silenced, China Now Goes after Exiled Dissidents

Simon Denyer
Washington Post
Dissidents in the U.S. and Germany said relatives in China were detained to investigate the anonymous letter asking Xi to resign.

Thailand Calls Off Deal for China to Finance Railway

Nopparat Chaichalearmmongkol
Wall Street Journal
Thailand has been struggling to secure what it considers a satisfactory financing deal from Beijing for the 250 kilometer rail line.

Missing Hong Kong Bookseller Goes Back to China after Brief Home Visit

Tyrone Siu
ABC
65-year-old British citizen Lee Bo is already on his way back to China from Hong Kong after disappearing in December.

How Trump’s Hard Line on Trade Could Backfire

Bob Davis
Wall Street Journal
“If they don’t behave,” the Republican businessman warned at a debate, Chinese companies under a Trump presidency could face tariffs of 45%.

China ‘Detained 20 over Xi Resignation Letter’

John Sudworth
BBC
The letter focuses on what it says is Xi's “gathering of all power” in his own hands and restrictions on freedom of speech.

China Warns Officials: No Unrest, Or Lose Your Job

Chuin-Wei Yap
Wall Street Journal
The policy announcement comes two weeks after hundreds of unpaid coal workers took to the streets in the gritty northeastern city of Shuangyashan.

Yi Fuxian, Critic of China’s Birth Policy, Returns as an Invited Guest

Didi Kirsten Tatlow
New York Times
"I can go to Boao because the Chinese government isn’t against me anymore!"

Indonesia Vows to Prosecute Chinese Trawler Crew in South China Sea Dispute

Guardian
Indonesia won't release eight Chinese fishermen arrested for illegal fishing, and regional tensions are tightening.

What the Nepalese Prime Minister’s Visit to China Says About the Wider Politics of Asia

Rishi Iyengar
Time
Caught between India and China, Nepal must pull off a delicate balancing act.

German President Presses China on Political Prisoners During Visit

Didi Kirsten Tatlow
New York Times
Gauck delivered a speech in Shanghai that criticized repressive political states and called for civil society to be allowed to flourish.

Viewpoint

03.24.16

German President Joachim Gauck’s Speech at Tongji University in Shanghai

from Der Bundespräsident
On Wednesday, March 23, German President Joachim Gauck addressed an audience of university students in Shanghai. Among many views not typically aired in public in China, Gauck, a former Luterhan minister and anti-communist organizer, told the crowd...

Caixin Media

03.23.16

Fall of Shanghai’s Utilities Chief Unravels Web of Corruption

A graft probe into the head of a state-run utilities firm in Shanghai put investigators on the trail of two top local government officials, people with knowledge of the matter say.Feng Jun, the former general manager of State Grid Shanghai Electric...

Excerpts

03.22.16

Beyond ‘Chicken or Beef’ Choices in China Debates

Jeffrey Wasserstrom
Growing up in California with no special interest in China, one of the few things I associated with the big country across the Pacific was mix-and-match meal creation. On airplanes and in school cafeterias, you just had “chicken or beef” choices,...

Russia Deals Deepen India Hold in China Oil-Buying Backyard

Debjit Chakraborty and Saket Sundria
Bloomberg
India is replacing China as the center of the world’s oil demand growth as its economy expands faster than any other major country.

North Korean Consular Official in China Kills Two in Car Crash

Megha Rajagopalan
Reuters
The accident was reported shortly after China came out in support of sanctions against its ally over its nuclear program.

Hong Kong Feels, and Fears, China's Tighter Grip

Associated Press
Political and economic ills from the mainland are eroding HK.

Features

03.21.16

A Thousand Yes-Men Cannot Equal One Honest Advisor

Several cadre leaders have been punished for breaking the law, and nearly all of them have said: There isn’t enough internal supervision and no one warned me; if there’d been someone there whispering in my ear, I wouldn’t have committed such grave...

Conversation

03.21.16

Cracks in Xi Jinping’s Fortress?

Andrew J. Nathan, Rana Mitter & more
Two remarkable documents emerged from China last week—the essay “A Thousand Yes-Men Cannot Equal One Honest Advisor,” which appeared on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and an open letter calling for Xi Jinping’s...

Indonesia Protests China's Retrieval of Illegal Fishing Ship

Associated Press
The fishing vessel Kway Fey was being towed when a Chinese coastguard vessel collided with it, allowing its escape.

China’s Advice to Cuba: Good Luck, But Beware of American Motives

Emily Rauhala
Washington Post
China might see a U.S.-Cuba thaw as a threat.

How a New York Art Show about Chinese Online Censorship Found Itself Censored

Simon Denyer
Washington Post
When the artist behind the cafe tried to organize a round-table event, a speaker starting receiving threats from China.

What’s Behind China’s ‘New’ South China Sea Tsunami Warning Center?

Prashanth Parameswaran
Diplomat
A tsunami alert center had already begun initial operations even though it is still under construction.

With Gambia Move, China Ends Diplomatic Truce with Taiwan

Ben blanchard and J.R. Wu
Reuters
China resumed ties with former Taiwan ally Gambia on Thursday.

Taiwan, Korea Challenges Could Push China's Nationalism

Christopher Bodeen
Associated Press
Economic growth and nationalism have been the two founts of legitimacy for the Party, and as the former wanes, Xi will likely rely on the latter.

Sinica Podcast

03.16.16

Everything Old is New Again

Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn & more from Sinica Podcast
Members of the Politburo are rarely praised for their dancing skills, but consider Xi Jinping’s almost flawless execution of the political two-step: first casting himself as the voice of liberal moderation in the face of Bo Xilai’s mass propaganda,...

Media

03.15.16

Taiwan’s New Direction

Eric Fish from Asia Blog
In January, Taiwan’s voters handed the traditionally pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) a landslide victory, giving it control of both the parliament and presidency for the first time ever. The victory came at the expense of the...

Rise of 'Racist' Trump Shows Democracy is Scary, China Paper Writes

Simon Denyer
Washington Post
An "abusively racist and extremist" candidate is on the rise in the U.S., says China's Global Times. Maybe democracy isn't such a good idea after all.

Conversation

03.15.16

What’s Driving the Current Storm of Chinese Censorship?

David Schlesinger, Anne Henochowicz & more
The latest lightning flashes on China’s shifting media horizon this month took the form of the banishment from social media of a real estate tycoon who voiced support for constructive criticism, the firing of an editor at a newspaper that appeared...

China Paper Says Rise of ‘Racist’ Trump Shows Democracy Is Scary

Simon Denyer
Washington Post
Hitler came to power through elections, China’s Global Times said, and democracy resulted in a mess.

Conversation

03.11.16

Is China Doing Enough for the Environment?

Deborah Seligsohn, Angel Hsu & more
This week, at their biggest annual session in Beijing, Chinese lawmakers are expected to ratify the country’s 13th Five-Year Plan, which contains many new measures to address rampant pollution of the country’s air, soil, and water. Will the plan be...

China Premier Urges More Efforts in Restive Uighur Heartland

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
China's violence-prone region of Xinjiang needs to make more efforts at development to ensure young people have "something to do and money to earn."

China Has Unblocked Internet Searches That Refer to Kim Jong-Un as a ‘Pig’

Rishi Iyengar
Time
Experts say it may be a sign of China's displeasure with Kim's nuclear buildup.

Media

03.10.16

China’s Secret Weapon on Disputed Island: Beer and Badminton

Soldiers, ships, and military outposts are the usual tools of nations staking out their territory. But on disputed shoals in the South China Sea, Beijing may be deploying a new arsenal: soccer fields, pipelines, and tea shops.Woody Island is a...

Why China Is Interested in Ukraine

Olena Mykal
Diplomat
The country’s strategic vision is reflected in the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative announced in 2013.